Friday, March 26, 2010

Easter approaches. I am attached to tradition and I have a strong will to prepare traditional recipes for Easter. I miss rustic tastes. In my French family, Easter is not as extensively celebrated as it is in the Polish part of the family. French are not sentimental about eggs, for example. They do not prepare homemade pisanki (Easter eggs).

Tartar Sauce is one of my favorite Easter egg accompaniments.

In fact, I prepare it several times a year. It is always served for Easter (as an accompaniment to eggs and homemade patés) and for Christmas (as one accompaniment to hams and patés). However, it tastes deliciously with breaded buttoned mushrooms, potato crockets and warm meats (which I will present some other time).

I made a quick research before publishing this post. I wanted to investigate about the name of the sauce, to no avail. Besides the connotation of the Tartar tribe and the ancient definition of mythological hell, I did not find anything.

Does anybody have any idea about the origins of the sauce? Why it is called “tartar”?

This classical and old-fashioned sauce is known in several countries. It is well known in France, as well, and you can buy it in nearly every store and order it in many restaurants serving traditional food.

The French version, which differs from Polish recipes, does not find my personal approval; it usually is too thick, thanks to mayonnaise, and awfully sour, thanks to French extremely acid vinegar cornichons.

Traditional Polish recipes use as well a lot of mayonnaise. I like mayonnaise, especially when it is homemade and made by my husband. I prefer, however, to “break” its texture and its taste by adding cream, mustard and sometimes horseradish.

My version of the Tartar Sauce is based on homemade pickled ceps (which you can find in stores carrying Polish food, as well) and sour cucumbers (instead of cornichons) – two famous Polish specialties.

I find this version tastier. I think that the flavors are well balanced. The sauce is more delicate, but still quite acid, like it should be. I have tried recipes with capers, but I always come back to my version, which uses a lot of chives and dill as well.

Homemade polish tartar sauce is a pure heaven. I don't like English one as much - it is too poor. Never tried with an egg, but obviously it is a great mix, because I like to dip hard boiled eggs in tartar sauce. :)